The MLBPA will present its counteroffer to Major League Baseball when the sides resume talks on Monday, ESPN reported Thursday.
MLB and the MLBPA met last Thursday for the first time since negotiations toward a new Collective Bargaining Agreement broke off Dec. 1 with the union flatly rejecting the proposal. Players were locked out the next day.
Players are expected to address three major issues that the league failed to last week — free agency, the Competitive Balance Tax and revenue sharing.
This is the first baseball work stoppage since a strike that began on Aug. 12, 1994. It led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and didn’t end until April 2, 1995.
Since then, the sides had hammered out five collective bargaining agreements without any shutdowns.
Among the reported sticking points for a new CBA is the MLBPA’s desire for free agency after five major league seasons for players 29 1/2 years old or older. The longstanding policy has been for players to need six years of service time to reach free agency.
The players also want to reach arbitration eligibility sooner than the current three-year standard. Another push from the union is to increase the salary threshold at which teams must pay a luxury tax.
Spring training is scheduled to start Feb. 16. Opening Day is scheduled for March 31.
